Chapter 525: Hot Spring

[Corrupted Spring Water]

The information Emery received from this sample of water certainly surprised him. Every time he used his apothecary skill [Analyze], he would receive certain information regarding the items he analyzed. 

Even though there were times where the information was scarce and almost had no value, he at least received a little information. But this sample of water strangely had nothing, except its name derived by the [Analyze] skill.

Fortunately, Emery had another trick on his sleeve to tackle this dilemma.

[Fragmentation]

As the skill took effect, the numerous blobs of the hot spring water gradually floated gently to the air as they coagulated. They then suspended there for a moment, before slowly hovering toward each other, gradually coalescing into a singular mass. 

Subsequently, it separated into two lumps of different liquids. One was the translucent spring water, while the other was a shimmering liquid with silvery hue.

[Essence discovered]

[Lycanthrope Corruption]

The amount of silvery liquid was very little when compared to the hot spring water, to the point it almost couldn't be seen by naked eye. Even so, Emery still received information about it that was currently displayed on the symbol on his palm.

Apparently, this silvery liquid was the result derived from the breakdown of the essence of a wolf bloodline. Intrigued by the discovery, Emery proceeded to do an investigation of the hot spring, to see if there was anything that could possibly be the cause of such an anomaly.

Unfortunately, he could not find anything substantial in the area, other than the markings and scratches created by the beast.

Realizing Emery was really interested in the hot spring, Morgana asked, "What is it?"

"There's definitely something strange with the water, but I don't know what it is. Stay here, I'll see what's under it."

He began to undress, which surprised Morgana as she immediately turned her head away. Faint color of red could be seen on her face, but Emery was too occupied by the mystery so he didn't notice it.

After taking his clothes off and leaving only his underwear, he swiftly dived into the hot spring.

Upon entering the water, Emery immediately noted the temperature of the hot spring reached the level a normal human body wouldn't be able to withstand it. Luckily, Emery was more than a normal human. Besides the initial scalding sensation, he could swim unhindered.

Diving to the depth of the hot spring, Emery discovered it wasn't too deep. The hot spring was about the depth of a one storey house. His feet could touch the bottom of the hot spring, while he could still see the surface.

To be thorough, Emery swam until his hand touched the bottom of the hot spring. He then proceeded to scour through all of the rock surfaces. In the end, he discovered that, apart from the searing heat, there was nothing strange about it.

Not giving up, Emery decided to sit on the bottom of the hot spring and start using his [Spirit Reading] ability to carefully feel the entire spring and the frozen cave that surrounded it. However, quite a long time had passed, but he still found nothing out of the ordinary. 

He didn't even know if the water in the hot spring was coming from the gap between the rocks or falling from the melted ceiling.

Just as he was about to give up and leave the hot spring, Emery suddenly felt the blood inside of him stirring - something that normally happened when he was transforming into his fey form. The problem was, he didn't utilize his transformation ability.

Because of this, he decided to stay a little longer inside the hot spring, to see if anything interesting would happen. And to his surprise, the symbol on his palm suddenly lit up and a notification popped into his mind.

[Your bloodline had just went through a purifying process]

[Genes purified]

[Fey Wolf gene essence percentage increased to 26%]

The notification surprised Emery, even more so when he read through them. He naturally knew he was on the verge of a breakthrough in his Gene Essence, but it was indescribable that staying inside this hot spring for only several minutes was able to help him go through that barrier.

He could not believe a hot spring could do such a miraculous thing.

While he was still in deep thought, Emery heard Morgana calling out to him. Therefore, he quickly swam to the surface again.

As he reached the edge of the hot spring, an idea came into his mind. He wanted Morgana to enter the hot spring as well, because she also had the same bloodline as him. If the hot spring really was the reason for his sudden breakthrough, then Morgana should receive similar benefits as well.

Emery then started to tell Morgana of his findings. He had only reached halfway through the explanation when the girl had already started to undress herself.

"Look away!" Morgana said when she saw Emery was still looking at her.

Turning his head in hurry, Emery could only continue his explanation with his back facing her. For the next few seconds, he heard nothing but the faint sound of something slowly entering the hot spring.

Worried about her, Emery slowly turned his head halfway and was stunned by what greeted his eyes. Even though the cave was dimly lit, thanks to his enhanced sense, he could still clearly see the palpable curves of her half-naked body.

The red-haired girl was certainly a beauty, without him realizing it, Emery swallowed his own saliva.

Realizing what he just did, he quickly closed his eyes and chanted in his mind repeatedly. "Don't think! Don't think!"

Unfortunately, his [Spirit Reading] ability allowed him to still be able to see his surroundings even with his eyes closed. It also didn't help that the red-haired girl swam closer to where he was, making this harder for him. Once again, his mind chanted the magical sentence louder and faster.

"DON'T think! DON'T even dare to think, Emery!"

As he was busy struggling in his mind, Emery was awakened by Morgana's voice coming from his right.

"Tell me how."

"How…? Ohh, yeah! How... Uhm, actually, I don't really know. Just try to feel something in the water… I guess?"

Emery's sudden stutter only made the red-haired girl staring at him with a suspicious gaze.

"You're not trying to do anything funny, are you?!"

"Huh?! Of course not! No! Never!" Emery was shocked by her accusation that came out of nowhere, so he firmly denied it as if his life depended on it. As a result, there was a certain long, awkward staring contest where no one had words to say.

At the moment, Emery just hoped Morgana would have the same reaction to the spring much sooner, and thus, the current awkwardness would naturally go away with it.

He, himself, once again tried to emulate the same sensation, while submerging most of his body in the hot spring. He tried casting [Nature Grasp] to see if there was any effect and he was suddenly drawn into his cultivation.

Emery didn't know how much time had passed, whether it was minutes or hours. Eventually, he was awakened from his deep state by another notification appearing in his mind.

[Genes purified]

[Fey Wolf gene essence percentage increased to 27%]

There was definitely something special about this hot spring, but Emery still hadn't found out what exactly.

Swearing he would definitely unravel the mystery, Emery opened his eyes and then realized Morgana's face and body were all red... She looked like she was in a lot of pain and when she noticed that Emery opened his eyes, she collapsed into his arms.

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Written and Directed by Avans, Published by W.e.b.n.o.v.e.l,